The Big Question; How Will the Website of the Future Look Different from the Website of Yesterday?
This becomes the visual "Aha!" moment of the entire manual.
________________________________________
Why I think this module is valuable
Most SMEs today have websites built something like this:
HOME
ABOUT US
PRODUCTS
SERVICES
CLIENTS
GALLERY
CAREERS
CONTACT
Nothing wrong.
But this is an organisation-centric website.
It answers
"Who are we?"
________________________________________
The website we are proposing answers
"What does the visitor want to know?"
That is a completely different philosophy.
________________________________________
Then create a comparison.
OLD WEBSITE
HOME
ABOUT US
PRODUCTS
SERVICES
CLIENTS
NEWS
CONTACT
________________________________________
NEW KNOWLEDGE VISIBILITY WEBSITE
HOME
KNOWLEDGE DOMAINS
↓
QUESTIONS
↓
ANSWERS
↓
GUIDES
↓
CASE STUDIES
↓
VIDEOS
↓
TOOLS
↓
DOWNLOADS
↓
PRODUCTS
↓
COMMUNITY
↓
CONTACT
Immediately the reader understands the difference.
________________________________________
Then take another example.
Old Agriculture Website
Home
About Us
Seeds
Fertilisers
Equipment
Gallery
Contact
________________________________________
New Agriculture Website
Home
↓
Growing Vegetables
↓
Soil Health
↓
Water Management
↓
Crop Nutrition
↓
Pest Management
↓
Organic Farming
↓
Farmer Stories
↓
FAQs
↓
Calculators
↓
Downloads
↓
Experts
↓
Products
↓
Contact
Notice the difference.
The first is organised around the company.
The second is organised around the farmer.
________________________________________
Another Example
Old Food Company
About Us
Products
Recipes
Gallers
Dealers
Contact
________________________________________
New Food Knowledge Platform
Home
↓
Healthy Eating
↓
Buying Guides
↓
Food Safety
↓
Ingredients
↓
Recipes
↓
Cooking Science
↓
Myths vs Facts
↓
Videos
↓
FAQs
↓
Downloads
↓
Products
↓
Contact
Again,
organisation
↓
customer.
________________________________________
Then introduce perhaps the most important concept.
The New Homepage
Old websites welcome visitors like this:
Welcome to ABC Foods.
Established in 1986.
We are one of India's leading manufacturers...
Nobody comes looking for that.
________________________________________
Instead imagine the homepage saying:
What would you like to learn today?
Search...
□□□□□□□□□□□□□
Below that
Popular Questions
↓
Latest Guides
↓
Most Downloaded Resources
↓
Recent Case Studies
↓
Videos
↓
Tools
↓
Expert Articles
↓
Products Related to These Topics
Now the website behaves almost like ChatGPT.
________________________________________
Then I would have another section.
Navigation Changes Completely
Instead of
Department
↓
Product
↓
Catalogue
We move to
Question
↓
Answer
↓
Related Questions
↓
Guide
↓
Case Study
↓
Tool
↓
Product
This is a radically different navigation philosophy.
________________________________________
Then another important section.
Every Page Becomes a Knowledge Hub
Instead of
Product Description
each page also contains
- FAQs
- Videos
- Comparisons
- Downloads
- Related Articles
- Research
- Customer Stories
- Common Mistakes
- Decision Trees
Now every page becomes richer.
________________________________________
Then
The Sitemap Stops Being Static
Old sitemap
Home
About
Products
Contact
Hardly changes.
________________________________________
New sitemap
keeps growing every week.
Because
every new question
becomes
another page.
Eventually
the organisation develops thousands of pages,
not because somebody wanted SEO,
but because customers kept asking new questions.
________________________________________
Then conclude with perhaps the most powerful statement of the book.
Yesterday's websites were built to present an organisation.
Tomorrow's websites will be built to answer questions.
I honestly think that sentence can become the signature line of this entire manual.
________________________________________
I would actually go one step further
I think this module should contain 10–15 visual sitemap transformations from different industries.
For example:
- Hospital
- School
- University
- NGO
- FPO
- Restaurant
- Food Brand
- Consultancy
- Law Firm
- CA Firm
- Farm Equipment Company
- Organic Brand
- Manufacturing Company
- Startup
The intern would suddenly realise that the philosophy is universal.
The industry changes.
The principle does not.
